This might be out there but could you look at OJ and Rathbone as a third pairing? You are not winning the cup this year anyways so see if you can build something here ?Young , cheap, OJ can play the PK , Rathbone can play RD and play second unit PP?

Already moved on to the next impending tragedy 😂

I hope they give Gadj a shot as well. Let him make some mistakes but work on his game in the NHL. He and OJ likely make it through waivers but hard to tell.

Is Demers an option at league min?
- CoolerHeads

Looks like Markstrom's in for his first game tonight, look for the Flames to ice a veteran lineup. Losing to the lowly Flames could be that next tragedy.

This might be out there but could you look at OJ and Rathbone as a third pairing? You are not winning the cup this year anyways so see if you can build something here ?Young , cheap, OJ can play the PK , Rathbone can play RD and play second unit PP?
- VANTEL

It would be pretty classic Canucks for Juolevi to get beaten out at camp only to be gifted a roster spot because they can't find a replacement for Hamonic

Games on Sportsnet tonight..

It would be pretty classic Canucks for Juolevi to get beaten out at camp only to be gifted a roster spot because they can't find a replacement for Hamonic
- NorthNuck

They can easily find something . Fan mentality is too funny.



OJ has always been a slow starter every year. Instead of throwing him to the roadside take a good look at him seeing the team has invested so much. Make or break year. After the roster has settled Canucks will have over 3.5 mil if they needed to make a move . Why not be patient ?

This might be out there but could you look at OJ and Rathbone as a third pairing? You are not winning the cup this year anyways so see if you can build something here ?Young , cheap, OJ can play the PK , Rathbone can play RD and play second unit PP?
- VANTEL

i think that's too extreme. i'm not even in favour of either guy playing every game let alone as a pairing.

i think that, as cliche as it sounds, rathbone (or OJ or both) when in the lineup should be sheltered until he/they get settled into the league. that could be 40ish games or it could be a season.

the other things that need to be considered for the youngsters is the mental wear on them playing so much at a high level with all the travel etc. that makes me hesitant to use them regularly right off the hop.

i know the canucks have had great success with young guys jumping right into contributing roles but we need to acknowledge how extraordinary that is. we can't start thinking every young guy can/should/will.

i think that's too extreme. i'm not even in favour of either guy playing every game let alone as a pairing.

i think that, as cliche as it sounds, rathbone (or OJ or both) when in the lineup should be sheltered until he/they get settled into the league. that could be 40ish games or it could be a season.

the other things that need to be considered for the youngsters is the mental wear on them playing so much at a high level with all the travel etc. that makes me hesitant to use them regularly right off the hop.

i know the canucks have had great success with young guys jumping right into contributing roles but we need to acknowledge how extraordinary that is. we can't start thinking every young guy can/should/will.
- RealityChecker

You still have Hunt and Schenn who you can mix and match the bottom four and see who rises.

I think it is a waste of cap at this time looking for a guy to fill in for a year. I look back to the year when Canucks ran with Benn and Fatburger and it wasn't all that great either.

I know people will laugh but I look at the forward group and I see a much stronger group this year . The D has three or four promising players and I don't see it being fixed until next year so why not look at OJ and JR and give them a shot.

You still have Hunt and Schenn who you can mix and match the bottom four and see who rises.

I think it is a waste of cap at this time looking for a guy to fill in for a year. I look back to the year when Canucks ran with Benn and Fatburger and it wasn't all that great either.

I know people will laugh but I look at the forward group and I see a much stronger group this year . The D has three or four promising players and I don't see it being fixed until next year so why not look at OJ and JR and give them a shot.
- VANTEL

Yep, play with what we got for the first 1/4 of the season to see what we have. That cap space will be more valuable then. We should be able, even with the D as it is, hold our own in this division. If not, use it to improve at that point. Keep some powder dry and don't waste it on a middling stop gap when you really don't have to.

You still have Hunt and Schenn who you can mix and match the bottom four and see who rises.

I think it is a waste of cap at this time looking for a guy to fill in for a year. I look back to the year when Canucks ran with Benn and Fatburger and it wasn't all that great either.

I know people will laugh but I look at the forward group and I see a much stronger group this year . The D has three or four promising players and I don't see it being fixed until next year so why not look at OJ and JR and give them a shot.
- VANTEL

i see where you're coming from and i think most of us agree that the forward group is much improved (at least on paper.)

with respect to the young d, i think it's more of setting up an environment where they are most likely to succeed. you mentioned earlier that OJ is not a strong starter. translated into the NHL, that means he'll most likely get burned a few times. that's okay, when looking at young D but with OJ's baggage (being a high first rounder who's taken longer than expected to arrive), things will get amplified by the media and fans. that's a factor that no young player needs.

so, i know that you can't get rid of all the external stuff which can have an affect on the internal stuff for the kids but you can try to limit it. limit and shelter the limits and let him/they get acclimated especially if he's a slow starter.

i know/get what you're saying about "filler" type d-men. they're basically nameless roster fodder. i just think having a young d play a few "good" minutes is better than having him play a lot of "decent" minutes with a few big blunders.

Yep, play with what we got for the first 1/4 of the season to see what we have. That cap space will be more valuable then. We should be able, even with the D as it is, hold our own in this division. If not, use it to improve at that point. Keep some powder dry and don't waste it on a middling stop gap when you really don't have to.
- carsonagenic

That is the route I would like to go.

i see where you're coming from and i think most of us agree that the forward group is much improved (at least on paper.)

with respect to the young d, i think it's more of setting up an environment where they are most likely to succeed. you mentioned earlier that OJ is not a strong starter. translated into the NHL, that means he'll most likely get burned a few times. that's okay, when looking at young D but with OJ's baggage (being a high first rounder who's taken longer than expected to arrive), things will get amplified by the media and fans. that's a factor that no young player needs.

so, i know that you can't get rid of all the external stuff which can have an affect on the internal stuff for the kids but you can try to limit it. limit and shelter the limits and let him/they get acclimated especially if he's a slow starter.

i know/get what you're saying about "filler" type d-men. they're basically nameless roster fodder. i just think having a young d play a few "good" minutes is better than having him play a lot of "decent" minutes with a few big blunders.
- RealityChecker

ASL, Lefty, LoadManagement,,,,,

https://www.cheknews.ca/i...to-cowichan-river-891199/

Yeah but ferland can't be placed until day 1 of the season correct? Meaning at least one of the kids would miss all of camp. I could easily be wrong. Happy they are signed
- Jkuzzi

Incorrect. There are two different ways get LTIR relief... it's a long entry, and was from a little while ago, but you and Booner and whoever-doesn't-read-certain-peoples-comments-but-actually-does and everyone else should read it because it's quite illuminating:

In the aftermath of Richardinson’s signing, fans online began trying to figure out exactly how much the Canucks can commit to RFAs Pettersson and Hughes.

People arrived at different numbers, as there was confusion about how, exactly, the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) relief for Micheal Ferland’s contract works. This is where things are more complicated than they appear on the surface. I’m going to do my best to explain this as clearly as possible, but fair warning: It gets complex. It’s an important topic important to dive into, though, because it directly affects the club’s wiggle room for the star RFAs.

Contrary to popular belief, placing a player like Ferland on LTIR does not remove his cap hit — his $3.5 million always remains on Vancouver’s cap payroll and continues to count on the books as normal. Here’s what changes: When he gets placed on LTIR, the Canucks are granted a relief pool that allows them to exceed the $81.5 million salary cap. The amount they can spend over the cap is not automatically equivalent to Ferland’s $3.5 million cap hit; it’s calculated on the day he’s put on LTIR based on how close Vancouver is to the cap.

For example, let’s say a team is spending $80 million against the cap and has an injured player with a $5 million cap hit whom it needs to place on LTIR. This team isn’t automatically allowed to spend $5 million over the cap. It is granted a relief pool equivalent to the amount by which it needs to exceed the cap. Because the team already has $1.5 million in space in this hypothetical setup, it’s allowed to spend only to $85 million (in other words, the team was allowed to capture only $3.5 million of the injured player’s $5 million cap hit as LTIR relief).

In practical terms, this means that it’s best to get as close as possible to the $81.5 million cap ceiling on the day a player is put on LTIR in order to maximize the relief. This is why you’ll often see teams manipulate their rosters with one-day paper transactions and such before an LTIR placement.

For the Canucks, the timing for placing Ferland on LTIR going into the season will make a crucial difference in how much flexibility they have to re-sign Pettersson and Hughes.

They essentially have two main options:

• OPTION 1: Submit an opening-day roster with Ferland not on LTIR. In other words, be under the cap with Pettersson and Hughes’ deals plus Ferland’s cap hit and then place him on LTIR after.

• OPTION 2: If the Canucks are over the cap and need LTIR relief right away, they can place Ferland on LTIR before opening-day rosters are submitted.

It’s better to be cap-compliant before needing LTIR relief for in-season roster flexibility, so the first option is definitely superior. Last year, for example, the Canucks papered Nils Höglander down to the AHL when submitting their opening-day roster because it allowed them to stay under the $81.5 million mark and follow Option 1.

Why does all of this matter for Pettersson and Hughes’ contracts? Well, the Canucks can spend just over $16 million on Pettersson and Hughes, but that figure is predicated on their following Option 2, under which they would enter the season over the cap and would need to place Ferland on LTIR before opening-day rosters are submitted in order to be cap-compliant. Option 2 is more restrictive for making day-to-day roster moves because you’re automatically using 100 percent of the relief pool you get from LTIR.

Let’s walk through a scenario: Suppose the Canucks sign Pettersson and Hughes to more expensive extensions and submit an opening-day roster that’s at $84.9 million including Ferland’s contract. Vancouver would be $3.4 million over the cap, so they would have to place Ferland on LTIR before submitting the opening-day roster. Because of Ferland’s LTIR relief, Canucks would be allowed to run this new upper limit of $84.9 million. But remember: Ferland’s cap hit doesn’t disappear even when he’s LTIR, so although the Canucks would be cap-compliant, they also would have literally zero cents in wiggle room.

The only way to clear additional room during the season would be to manufacture it through a trade, waivers or loaning a player. This has the potential to cause headaches when injuries strike, as a team might not have the cap space to recall players or even claim someone off waivers. For instance, there were parts of last season when we suspected that the Canucks were unable to play Olli Juolevi and had to keep him on the taxi squad because they didn’t have the requisite cap space. And remember, that was last season, when the team wasn’t even using the more restrictive second LTIR option for Ferland.

Let’s contrast that with a hypothetical scenario using Option 1. If Vancouver submitted an opening-day roster that’s at $81.4 million including Ferland’s cap hit, the Canucks could place him on LTIR afterward and be allowed to spend to the same $84.9 million ceiling. The difference is that because they were cap-compliant, including Ferland’s cap hit, they’re not spending to that $84.9 million ceiling — meaning that they’ll actually have some money to play around with during the season.

The Canucks will need to do intricate modelling and run through mock in-season scenarios to analyze whether they’re comfortable running with the second LTIR option. Other teams have done it, including the Tampa Bay Lightning, but one former cap strategist for an NHL team warned that there are nuances to Tampa’s situation and that the Canucks would be walking a narrow tightrope by following it. So although the Canucks technically have around $16.3 million in space to sign Pettersson and Hughes, it may not be prudent to use all of it because they could wind up with extremely limited roster flexibility during the season.

I remember the last regular season the Comets had OJ looked like a tire fire for the first 15 games but eventually turned into the teams best.

Another Dman I think will develop this year is Briesbois. I believe he is injured right now. He has a chance to play some games up here.

I remember the last regular season the Comets had OJ looked like a tire fire for the first 15 games but eventually turned into the teams best.

Another Dman I think will develop this year is Briesbois. I believe he is injured right now. He has a chance to play some games up here.
- VANTEL

We are not talking about huge minutes here as a 3rd pairing. So Brisbois as a stay at home 10-12 minutes a night guy should be fine. And if not, upgrade after that determination has been made, not before. Just say no to a reheated Fatburger.

That would be one mil over before regular season with a 22 man roster. If Benning kept one of Hughes or Pettersson off the roster to comply with the cap then he should be fired.

You can also be 10 % over the cap until the start of the season. Right now 30 % of the league are over the cap .

You should download capfriendly.com
- VANTEL

That would be too easy when lazy is the MO these days lol

We are not talking about huge minutes here as a 3rd pairing. So Brisbois as a stay at home 10-12 minutes a night guy should be fine. And if not, upgrade after that determination has been made, not before. Just say no to a reheated Fatburger.
- carsonagenic

Going into year three of the flat cap I think most teams will have flaws in the lineup . I would say with the more players locked in long term are going to result in more holes in the lineups.

I don't mind holding off on any more signings unless it is a nugget that falls into your lap.

Any formal announcement about when the formal announcement will be?

Any formal announcement about when the formal announcement will be?
- 1970vintage

The former will be a formality once the media is informed to attend an informal presser & report the formal announcement formerly leaked last evening.

Any formal announcement about when the formal announcement will be?
- 1970vintage

Incorrect. There are two different ways get LTIR relief... it's a long entry, and was from a little while ago, but you and Booner and whoever-doesn't-read-certain-peoples-comments-but-actually-does and everyone else should read it because it's quite illuminating:
- NewYorkNuck

I don't even know what that means? I read everyone's comments and never claimed otherwise.

Any formal announcement about when the formal announcement will be?
- 1970vintage

We're waiting for a formal announcement on that.

Going into year three of the flat cap I think most teams will have flaws in the lineup . I would say with the more players locked in long term are going to result in more holes in the lineups.

I don't mind holding off on any more signings unless it is a nugget that falls into your lap.
- VANTEL

Like you said, there will be holes in all teams rosters. Teams will need to pull a TB Kucherov scenario to navigate the flat cap and roster issues

Like you said, there will be holes in all teams rosters. Teams will need to pull a TB Kucherov scenario to navigate the flat cap and roster issues
- carsonagenic

As long as you have a guy to figure it out then it doesn't matter what we think.


We just need to have a guy

I don't even know what that means? I read everyone's comments and never claimed otherwise.

- boonerbuck

that's for Vantel, who claims he doesn't but then brings things up weeks after "not reading" certain people

But the LTIR thing is well written, and clears up a lot of misconceptions.